With Commerce City kids back in class, concerns continue about their schools

To say Adams 14 schools have faced challenges in recent years is an understatement. 

Our city’s academically struggling school district lost its accreditation last year by order of the State Board of Education — a rare occurrence for any of the state’s 178 school districts. Even after accreditation was restored later in the year, the district remained under orders to reorganize. And that’s not to mention the years of legal wrangling between the district and the state board over the state’s actions.

It all stems from years of low academic performance, something district Superintendent Karla Loria told Denver 7 News last week she intends to overcome:

“Initial data is telegraphing that we're going to see progress in many areas, which is not only exciting, but something that I have experienced in other districts and in other schools, when we adults understand we need to really focus on students,” Loria said.

She also told Denver 7:

“I have not been in any school across the nation that is in turnaround because of the students or because of the families, so it was very important for me as superintendent to have a conversation about what we need to own as adults, and how we can move forward to support our students, and that’s what we did.”

With kids back in class since last Monday, you could say the clock is ticking. It’s a race against time for the district’s leadership, its administrators and its faculty to show progress in turning things around.

Commerce City has a right to be proud of its schools, like any community, but it also needs them to perform well to prepare kids for success — work and higher ed. Let’s keep watch and rooting for our schools to do better by our kids.